Why Weight Watchers Just Works

As you may or may not know I am currently taking college courses online to obtain my degree in nursing. My goal is to become a neonatal nurse and hopefully work over nights so I can be around more for my little girl. Well I am taking Nutrition 101 this semester and I love it! I have already learned so much and thought Over the next few weeks I would share some of my homework essays I write as they fit into my blog and my journey :) This week our task was to analyze a weight loss program and list why we would or would not reccomend it. I was overjoyed when I saw Weight Watchers listed as one of the options! I knew I would have no problem writing a novel on it! So here is my essay if you ever were wondering whether or not to join Weight Watchers this might help:

Why Weight Watchers Just Works

            Weight Watchers is a weight loss program that is operated by a corporation. They are a global company that has been helping people lose weight for over 40 years. The program is designed to educate the participant and offer them a plethora of different resources to lose weight and get healthy. The plan works by teaching participants to count and track their food and calorie intake based upon a points system. The points system figures out your daily caloric needs and rates foods based upon their calories, fat, and fiber content. They teach you how to use the points system and have several different tools to help you figure out the points of foods. It also teaches you to track your daily points consumed to make it fit into your target points for the day. This teaches you total accountability and really is the key to the success of the program.

            I find weight watchers to be completely affordable, there was no registration fee and a monthly pass is only $39.99 and it allows you to attend as many meetings as you want, weigh in every week, and access to their online e tools. You have different options you can pay weekly or just sign up for their online program. It is totally flexible and the online website is a great tool. There are great features that let you input your own recipes and track the points. You can track all of your daily points on it as well.

            The beauty of weight watchers is it is totally flexible and allows anyone with dietary restrictions to be successful. I will use my own challenge as an example. I have Celiac disease so I cannot purchase many of the premade Weight Watchers snacks they have available in their centers. But the points system can be applied to any foods so I just track the points of gluten free options and fruits and vegetables. A vegetarian would have no problem following the plan especially since fruits and vegetables are very low in points. The plan is easier to follow because of its flexibility. I can eat any food I want all I have to know is the points value which is found on any nutrition label.

            One of the greatest benefits of Weight Watchers is their maintenance program. Weight Watchers encourages you to become a lifetime member, once you reach your goal weight you are eligible. As a life time member you never have to pay for your membership again and just have to weigh in once a month to maintain your membership status. As a lifetime member you are encouraged to still attend meetings to stay motivated because maintenance is often much harder to do on your own. It is obvious that the matinence program works so well because everyone who works for Weight Watchers has been a member and lost weight and now is a lifetime member. Even their CEO David Kirchhoff lost weight on the plan and is now a lifetime member!

            The Weight Watchers program follows the dietary guidelines when it comes to their nutritional support. They recommend members eat each 2 servings of each a day of: 2 healthy oils, 2 lean proteins, 2 milk, 5 fruits and vegetables, 64 oz of water, 1 whole grain serving and a multivitamin. They use the daily health guidelines to ensure members are getting the proper nutrients and staying healthy. This is the safe way to lose weight and keep eating from the food pyramid guidelines. You do not have to avoid certain foods, or restrict your diet in a way that is damaging to your body. It ensures you are getting the proper nutrition and vitamins and minerals your body needs to function.

            I would definitely recommend Weight Watchers to anyone wanting to lose weight and maintain a healthier lifestyle. It offers s built in support system in person and online that keeps you motivated. It teaches you how to utilize portion control and eat a healthy balanced diet. It fits into your lifestyle it does not force you to adapt to a new one. And this is the main reason why Weight Watchers works. Personally I have lost 71 pounds since I began Weight Watchers 8 months ago and I feel better than I ever have in my life. Not only do they offer dietary advice, they give emotional support and help teach you to learn when your body is truly hungry and how to avoid emotional eating. They also encourage activity and even have a system in place so you can learn what activity burns in terms of points and how it helps you stay healthy. I found that Weight Watchers offers sound healthy advice and gives you a support system when losing weight. It is not a fad diet encouraging only eating from 1 or 2 food groups, it is a lifestyle changing system which helps you gain control of your health and maintain a healthy body weight forever.

            I am not the only one who feels so strongly about the program. There are several articles which offer the philosophy behind the program and offer suggestions to why it works. An article in a Chicago Consumer research journal offers some sound reasons why it is a good idea. “Participation in the Weight Watchers program may alleviate the profound sense of inadequacy that the overweight condition confers” (Mosio, 2009). Basically he is pointing out that going to the meetings and having the support system Weight Watchers gives participants a greater chance of losing weight and keeping it off. The meetings offer support and celebrate each small loss and this gives participants a greater feeling of themselves. This is often why people fail when trying to do it on their own. Mosio claims it is the spiritual support that makes the program so successful and keeps members maintaining their loss for years and years. The article interviewed 51 participants and their stories were all similar, they loved the support they got at meetings and it made them feel they were in control of their weight loss journey. It gave them the confidence needed to keep going and keep working toward their mini goals. By celebrating each small loss it added up to one big loss at the end (Mosio, 2009). This article resonated for me what I had already learned about the program and the benefits of it.

            Another article from the Annals of Medicine, reviews several weight loss programs and compares the costs and benefits in a very detailed format. It was written by two doctors.  I enjoyed reading things from a more medical point of view. I liked the data tables which displayed everything in detail. The article determined that group sessions when trying to lose weight are most beneficial (Tsal 2005). The authors concluded that “we believe that a substantial minority of individuals will lose 5% or more of their initial weight in such programs” (2005). The article then concluded that: “Weight Watchers is the only commercial weight loss program whose efficacy has been demonstrated in a large, multisite, randomized, controlled trial. It produces a mean loss of approximately 5% of initial weight, which may be sufficient to prevent or ameliorate weight-related health complications” (2005). If I had any doubts about a weight loss program versus doing it on your own at home I was convinced otherwise after reading this article.

            Weight Watchers works because it teaches you how to change your lifestyle and fit in the foods you love in a healthy way. They have some great tools such as a food scale, points calculator and daily journal which help you to follow the program and continue to be successful with it. Even if you cannot afford Weight Watchers there are other free programs out there to help you maintain a healthier life style. I chose Weight Watchers and it has been working well for me in 8 months I lost 71 pounds and 28% of my body weight. I have developed a confidence that has allowed me to keep going and get active and I know that the tools I learned at Weight Watchers will remain with me for my life time.

Works Cited

Mosio, Risto and Mariam Beruchashvili. Question for the Well-Being at Weight Watchers: The Role of the Spiritual-Therapeutic Model in a Support Group. Journal of Consumer Research. Vol 36. Feb, 2009.

Tsai, Adam Gilden MD and Thomas Wadden PhD. Systematic Review: An Evaluation of Major Commercial Weight Loss Programs in the United States. Annals of Internal Medicine. Vol. 142. Jan. 4, 2005.

www.weightwatchers.com